Is the end of landlines close?

July 24, 2019

According to the CNMC (Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition), last year, the number of landlines decreases in Spain for the first time after having been increasing for three consecutive years.

According to the CNMC’s calculations, 280 lines per day on average were cancelled in 2018.

Total of landlines in Spain

The total figure of landlines is 19.5 million, but many of these lines are only hired because operators force their customers to hire service bundles which include landlines, mobile lines, data, and TV.

In fact, regarding this matter, the CNMC recommend the operators to be more flexible with their customers when deciding which service they want to hire, thus reducing their telecom expense and paying only for what they need.

The operators’ income also drops

Just as the number of landlines dropped, the operators’ income regarding this service also did so, concretely by 7% and, evidently, the traffic of this type of lines fell by 12.9%.

Considering a more global vision of the last 5 years, calls from landlines have gone from representing 44% of the total to 20%.

Landlines are unused

The reflected data and their trend show that landlines fell into disuse in Spain and they are going to disappear.

Telephone cabins are also disappearing from cities and villages, mainly due to the lack of profitability generated by this element.

A mobile society

It is clear that mobile phones, with more features, better technologies and better connections such as 5G, have won the battle against landlines. In Spain alone, there are already more than 54 million mobile lines. In 2018, 1.7 million new mobile lines were registered, which means an average of more than 4,600 new lines per day.